In this webinar, Dr Michel introduced the concept of chemical switching, which exploits latent enzymatic activities to selectively enhance or redirect specific catalytic functions.

Using the base excision repair enzyme OGG1 as an example, Maurice described a class of small-molecule modulators termed organocatalytic switches (ORCAs). Rather than suppressing DNA repair, these molecules accelerate otherwise slow steps in OGG1 catalysis, promoting the processing of oxidized bases and abasic sites. Drawing on interdisciplinary studies, this webinar highlighted the tunability of DNA repair processes and suggested multiple avenues for therapeutic modulation in aging and regenerative biology.

Invited Speaker:

• Dr Maurice Michel, Assistant Professor of Chemical Biology at the Karolinska Institutet, Sweden 

This webinar was chaired by Dr Aisha Syeda, University of York.